The Political Protocol
by ExactChase
Summary: [Sequel to 'The General's Side] Three years after Weiss Schnee was arrested for the murder of Ruby Rose. Three years after her co conspirators were killed. Three years after Ruby Rose killed herself, a mercenary calling herself Perseus begins to show up in the lives of those around the remaining members of Team RWBY
1. I Bet My Life

Yang watched as her father stepped out of Ozpin's tower, his head down. She ran to him, and he looked up. His eyes looked just like they did the day they found out what happened to Summer.

"What happened?" Yang asked. He looked at her, opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. He then looked at her for a long time before speaking, "This…" He pulled out a handgun, holding the grip between two fingers. Yang's stomach dropped when she saw what was on the gun; the barrel had fresh blood spattered all over it. "Did you…?" Her voice trailed off, and she looked away.

"No," he told her. "She was mentally disturbed, Yang. She… Did this to herself." Yang knew what he was trying to say, and tears formed in her eyes. "She's… She's gone?" Yang's voice cracked.

"Yeah…" He whispered, bringing her into a hug. He tucked her head under his chin, and she sobbed into his chest.

That was three years ago for Yang. But unlike the first time she thought Ruby was dead, she got used to her little sister not being around, and actually graduated from Beacon. It hadn't been easy, especially since Ozpin transferred her to JNPR, and Blake to another team. It was probably for the best. Blake wasn't the same around Yang after Perseus took off the mask, she saw Ruby as another Adam and didn't really trust anyone afterwards.

Yang could at least rest easy, knowing that Weiss actually went to prison for what she did. The blonde remembered the last conversation she had with Weiss after they found her cowering in the library.

"Why?" She asked as she escorted Weiss to Ozpin, her eyes still stung from the tears, but she was too angry to notice. Weiss didn't answer, and instead just stared at her feet. "I want to know why…" Yang said.

"Why does it matter?" Weiss asked. "She's alive, so why does this matter?"

"Because…" Yang began, "Because my sister shot herself because of you."

Weiss looked up at Yang, "Did she—?"

"Yeah." Yang cut her off. "So tell me why you did this."

"Because I was hoping something like this would happen," Weiss was quite obviously bluffing. "And I want you to know that she deserved every fucking second of this, all of it!" Weiss whispered the last part, and Yang decked her, letting her fall to her knees. Weiss looked up at Yang, "Whose fault is it that you didn't believe her?" She asked. Yang kicked her in the stomach. Yang then leaped on top of her and began to repeatedly hit the heiress in the face until Blake appeared and pulled her off. "You can't kill her," the faunas said. "I know she deserves it, but you can't."

Yang made eye contact with her partner and stormed off. That was probably the last time Yang actually had a conversation with her.

Now, Yang was a huntress, just like Ruby always wanted to be. She still wore Ruby's cloak in respect for the fallen girl.

Soon after everything that happened, Yang learned of Ruby and Jaune's relationship. She didn't like the fact that Jaune was using Ruby's mental instability to his advantage, but there was nothing she could do at this point. But Jaune never fully recovered like Yang did, he refused to believe that Ruby was actually dead, and disappeared looking for her. Yang didn't know if this was because he found something, or if he died at the hands of the Grimm. In fact, she didn't know if he was even really dead.


	2. Dream

The girl opened her eyes, the light burning her retinas from such a long time with her eyes closed. The first thing she noticed, was that she was laying on the couch in an RV. She tried to remember the last thing that happened. Nothing. She struggled to remember anything. She sat up on the couch, something jingling around her chest. The girl looked down; dog tags. She had been in the military at some point. She grabbed the metal plate, reading the name transcribed on the side; Rose, Ruby, 11/25/98.

"Ruby." She said to herself. "My name is Ruby." She smiled. "I like that name." Ruby only now noticed that she was wearing a simple grey T-shirt, jeans, and a black hoodie. Her shoes were just a pair of black converse. Approving of her own wardrobe, Ruby finally stood, falling to her knees. Her legs were not accustomed to carrying her weight. "How long was I out?" She asked. This thought was quickly torn away as Ruby saw a mirror on the wall. She scrambled to her feet, wanting more than anything to uncover more information about herself. Looking into the mirror, she saw how young she looked. "Oh my God!" She shouted. "I'm beautiful!"

Ruby explored the RV, looking for any signs of intelligent life. The RV was brand new. No sign that anything had happened in it before she woke up. Looking out the windshield, she saw that she was in the middle of nowhere. It was a desert. And she was on the side of a highway. There were no cars coming either way, and the faded black strip continued into the distance. Ruby looked down and saw a sticky note on her dash, it was an address, a city, and a zip code. Lucky for her, the keys were still in the ignition. She turned the engine, and the vehicle roared to life. It soon hit her that she hadn't known her name just minutes ago, but she somehow had the ability to drive an RV. Did she even have a license? Ruby searched the glove box. All she found was a .44 revolver. Wait. Why did she have a .44?

Ruby waved this off. It was for protection, what else. Only then did she realize that she was sitting on something. She stood, pulling the item out of her back pocket, she found that it was a wallet. It was a simple, brown wallet with a rose burned onto the side. She opened the wallet, finding a driver's license with her picture on it. "Ruby Rose," She read aloud. "Gender: F. Height: 5,4. Hair: Red/Black. Eyes: Silver. Date of Birth: November 25th, 1998. Weight: 130 pounds. Looks like I'm a donor." She chuckled at this. "Date of issue: February 25, 2016. Expires: 2/25/24." Ruby saw that same address again on her license. It seemed as though that was where she lived. She had to go there. Ruby began to drive, hoping she was going in the right direction. She would have to soon stop and ask for directions.

When she did stop for directions, the man was reading the newspaper outside of a gas station. "Excuse me." She asked him, trying to be polite as possible, just sticking her head out of the window. "Sir." She said, trying to hard to get his attention. He must not have been able to hear her; her voice was so timid and small that she herself couldn't hear her. "Hey." She said, her voice now at a normal volume. The man looked up, smiling kindly once he saw her. "How can I help you, miss?" He asked, obviously working for the gas station. "Yes, can you tell me how to get to Mystral from here?" She asked.

"Just keep driving until you see the road signs." He told her. "Pardon me for asking," he began, looking a little concerned. "but how old are you?"

"I'm not sure," she told him. "Let me check. What's the date?"

"November 22nd, 2016, ma'am." He told her. She quickly did the math in her head. "I'm eighteen."

"You just seem a bit young to be out here," he told her. "You sure you're eighteen?"

She waved her dog tags at him. "That's what these tell me." He quickly read the inscription on her dogtags. "What kind of name is Perseus?" He asked, joking. Ruby was confused, she read the back of her dogtags, finding that it said; Perseus. That was it. "Hmm." She said, turning to the man. "Thanks for the directions." She told him, shaking his hand. "You've got an iron grip." He told her, laughing.

This was when Ruby realized that she was wearing a thin glove over her right hand. She pulled away from the gas station, steering with her knees, she took the glove off. Her hand was made of metal. She took off her hoodie, seeing that the metal went up her sleeve. She quickly pulled over and took her shirt off, making sure that no one could see her. She had a prosthetic arm that seemed to be fused with her chest, but the hem of her bra covered up a lot of the meeting of skin and metal. She wasn't about to take all of her clothes off just to see about her arm, so she just looked to her side, seeing that the flesh seemed to be burned to the metal, making sure that it couldn't be taken off. Ruby noticed a little weld mark, running from the base of her shoulder to her armpit.

"Wh-what happened to me?" She looked over the metal appendage. It glinted in the sunlight as she twisted and turned it. She looked down to see the metal on her side going down into her pants. Ruby pulled up her pants to reveal that her right foot was also a prosthetic. She quickly pulled up her left pants leg to see that in fact her left leg matched the right.

The metal went across the right side of her torso, extending down to her legs. Ruby stared at the metal appendages for a few minutes, tears beginning to burn her eyes. For some reason, Ruby found the metal a reminder of something, something painful.

Suddenly, without warning, brief images began to flash in Ruby's mind. The first image she saw was of a woman dressed in mostly gold and red clothing. Her hair was a bright red. She was beautiful. And she was pleading for her life. A gun was pressed against her head, and it seemed to Ruby that she was the one doing it. One of her hands was on the gun, the other on the woman's throat. She was speaking, but Ruby heard no words. But she did hear the gunshot that sounded out, as the woman was dropped, limply falling to the ground.

The second image was of a woman in white, but no horrible death came to her, she simply stood and stared Ruby down.

When the visions stopped, Ruby bolted for the bathroom, the horrible images making her want to vomit. But her body felt no need to puke. So Ruby stood and returned to the driver's seat, beginning to drive once again.

 **A/N: I just looked at the date at** **which I finished writing the** **first two chapters of this, and, well I should have uploaded at LEAST the first two chapters in April. Don't know why I didn't. Anyway, more will be coming soon... probably. Y'know, I didn't even have a plot for this until about twelve hours ago!**


	3. Shots

Taiyang shamefully hung his head. He didn't want to do what he did. He didn't want to activate The Political Protocol, a program designed specifically for political prisoners. People who knew more than they should.

And to make matters worse, he had been forced to use it on his youngest daughter, and even lie to his eldest about it. It hurt him to see Yang like that, and it hurt him even more to think that his little girl didn't even know who he was anymore. Didn't even know he existed. It hurt a lot.

But it was nothing compared to how Yang felt. She grieved the "accidental" death of her sister, only to find out that not only was she not dead, but two of their closest friends had tried to kill her. And Yang defended those people. And now she had to carry the heavy burden of thinking that her mentally disturbed sister had taken her own life.

This was untrue, of course. And Taiyang knew it. He thought about it every single day, wondering if it was the right thing to do, wondering if he should have just let her have the sixty-five years. Wondering if that was any better. Of course, he would never know.

Of course, he did know that she would regain her memory at some point in the future, in fragments and pieces. Hopefully, by the time she remembered what had happened, she would be married, with children. She would have something to tie her down, something to prevent her from repeating what happened at Beacon. Or perhaps she would be over it, now that her conspirators were either dead or imprisoned.

Taiyang had considered the idea of just erasing the past six months, and telling her that she had been nearly killed by the Grimm, while the others she killed weren't as lucky. There had been an entire backstory planned, just to return to young girl back to normality.

But she remembered everything too fast. Within an hour of her regaining consciousness, she remembered everything. Ironwood didn't even give her a chance to process these memories before he sedated her.

Taiyang and Ironwood then spent the next three years skimming the girl's memory, allowing her to remember important information that most people needed to function in society. They allowed her to remember the information, but not where she learned it.

He knew it would be hard for her. He knew that once she remembered, she would feel the hurt and pain once again. And that was the last thing he wanted. He wanted to permanently rid her of the pain, and allow her to become the woman she always wanted to become. But that was impossible now. In order to completely erase her memory, they had to remove her aura completely. Which meant that no combat school would touch her with a ten meter cattleprod.

But, regardless of the fact that he had destroyed what little chances of becoming of huntress she had left, he still cared for her. Taiyang had been allowed clearance to watch her, make sure she didn't do anything stupid. Make sure nothing happened to her.

Of course, the Atlesian military didn't care whether or not she lived or died. All they cared about was making sure that Perseus stayed a myth. No one could link Perseus to Atlas. No one except for Taiyang Xiao-Long. And of course, they made an attempt to pay him off. They offered him millions of dollars just to keep his mouth shut.

And he accepted. But only to keep Ruby safe. He knew that if anyone ever found out about Perseus, they would come after Ruby. But, regardless, Taiyang didn't keep the money. He spent it to make sure that Ruby wasn't a homeless, unemployed amnesiac. He made it seem as though she had a life that she had forgotten.

He bought her a house— and of course bought furniture for it as well—a car, an RV and of course a safe to stow the money away in.

He just hoped it was enough to make sure she had a good life. And he, of course didn't tell anyone. Yang didn't even know they had offered him the money. And he hoped it would stay that way. If Yang found out about the money, she would find out about Ruby, and that would not be good. It would. be very, very bad.

Taiyang sighed. He was proud of Yang. He really was, but she still hadn't gotten over Ruby's "death". The first time nearly broke the poor girl, but the second time absolutely crushed her. In the first few months, while Beacon was recovering, she went days at a time without food, and rarely left her room.

And after three years, she had only improved slightly. She was eating, and being sociable. But every time someone mentioned Ruby— even in passing— she just broke down and began crying.

And Taiyang understood it. He understood what Yang was going through. Her mother had left her, her stepmother had left her, and now Ruby had left her. Twice.

But regardless, of whether or not it had happened before, Taiyang had another funeral for his youngest daughter, telling his parents that she had come back to him, scarred from the Grimm attack, but took her own life the very next day. And they were heartbroken, even though they had only met Ruby a handful of times. But she was family. And Summer had always been their favorite of Taiyang's wives.

Taiyang frowned, shaking away the memory of Ruby's second funeral. He missed her. He missed her so much.

Even now, three years later, as he walked up the stairs to Yang's apartment, he missed Ruby.

Taiyang loudly knocked on the door, the three thuds echoing throughout the small apartment. No answer. He did it again and heard an annoyed shout, "I'm coming!" Yang told him, unaware that her father was on the other side of the door.

Taiyang heard her unlock the door, and it flew open as Yang spoke, not realizing who she was talking to.

"What do you—?" She stopped, staring at him for a brief second before smiling, "Oh!" She happily said. "Dad! Come in!"

Taiyang grinned and walked past her, into the small apartment.

It wasn't very big, having only two rooms. One being the living room and kitchen, and the other being her bedroom, which Taiyang hoped wasn't occupied.

The kitchen was a mess, looking as though she was just too lazy to clean the dishes that were piled in the sink.

And the living room was nearly barren. There was only a couch and a small T.V. It was clear that the only reason she even owned an apartment was for sleep and the occasional gathering of friends.

"What brings you here?" She asked, taking a seat on the couch.

He shoved his hands in his pockets, and looked around for a second before he his gaze stopped at the picture of Ruby that stood beside the TV. He sighed.

"It's about Ruby." He quietly said.

The smile dissipated from her face, and her lip began to tremble. Taiyang swallowed hard and leaned against the wall.

"I've been doing some… investigating." He continued. "And I found a few things that…" He paused again, and angrily frowned. "I found a few things that pissed me the fuck off." He growled.

"What was it?" Yang shakily asked.

"That fucker, Ironwood, did a little more than tell her that no one wanted her," he said. "He indebted her. He told her, 'I saved your life, you're mine now'."

Yang's expressions turned from sadness to anger. Her eyes turned red and her hair caught fire.

"That bastard!" She shouted.

"Language…" Taiyang quickly said. She quietly apologized and there was a moment of silence.

"I don't know what to do with this information." He said, breaking the fragile silence.

"Indict him!" Yang told him.

Taiyang sighed, "I can't." He said.

"Why not?" She angrily asked.

Taiyang rubbed the back of his head.

"Because if he gets indicted, all the shit about Ruby I've worked very hard to hide will come to light. And it will destroy the Rose name." He said.

Yang stood and leaned against the wall opposite him.

"What is the 'official' story, anyway?" She asked.

"The official story is that she was put into witness protection, and was going to testify, but killed herself before she could. Out of fear." He said. "But the only one anyone seems to care about is that she was murdered by a Schnee."

Yang slowly nodded, "I've heard that people think that Winter had Ruby killed."

"She sure as hell tried." Taiyang told her.

Yang raised an eyebrow.

"She hired assassins. They showed up that night Ruby tried to smoke you out." He said.

"What're you gonna do?" She asked.

"I don't know." He said. "I'd hate for anyone to find out about Ruby. At that point, things would go back to how they were during the trial."

Yang rolled her eyes. "I can deal with the press camping on my doorstep for a while. As long as Ironwood serves some time."

Taiyang nodded and headed for the door.

"I'll think about it." He said.


	4. Hopeless Opus

**A/N: Sorry it's been almost a week since I last updated, but Thanksgiving** , **ya know? Anyway** , **enjoy**.

Yang stumbled out of Blake's apartment, a forty in hand. She frowned sadly as the cat faunas tried to lead the blonde to her own apartment next door.

"What?" Yang asked, slurring her words, "Are we not friends anymore?"

Blake scoffed, "We're still friends, Yang. But you can't just walk in whenever you want. Especially this late."

"What time is it?" She looked down at where a watch would be. If she owned a watch.

"It's past midnight." Blake deadpanned.

"Do…" Yang paused. "Do you know what today is?"

Blake looked up, "Friday." She said.

Yang shook her head. "No— well, yeah. But do you know what's special about this Friday?"

Blake rolled her eyes. Not that Yang noticed.

The blonde drank from the bottle in her hand, and angrily threw it against the hallway wall. Blake jumped back, and looked down somberly, having put two-and-two together. It was Ruby's birthday.

"I don't know why you continue to torture yourself like this." She said.

"Me?" Yang asked, stopping and turning around, using the wall as a crutch. "She was my sister—"

"So what?" Blake angrily asked. "You've got to move on at some point!"

There was a long silence between the two, as Yang just stared at Blake, a hurt expression upon her face.

Blake sighed. "Listen," she said softly. "I'm going to tell you what you told me. I'm not telling you to stop remembering her. Just don't let it consume you."

With those words, Blake turned and left, leaving the blonde outside of her own apartment.

[Shift]

Ruby stood in an unofficial fighting ring, made for just fighting. Not boxing. Not wrestling. None of that. No rules. Just whoever lost consciousness first lost.

Ruby had never fought before, but for some reason, she felt confident in her abilities.

The man that stood across from her was apparently the champion, having never lost a fight. He was a large man, muscle covering every inch of his body. He didn't have much hair on his head, aside from the thick beard that hid his mouth and chin. He wasn't wearing a shirt either, which Ruby found rather odd, but figured that he was just showing off.

"Don't worry, girl." He said in a deep, raspy voice. "I'll go easy on you."

Ruby scoffed. "Don't." Was all she said before the bell rang, signaling that the fight had begun.

The man immediately ran forward, whilst Ruby remained still. Just before he slammed into her, she leaped into the air, flipping over him, and pushing him into the fence that separated the audience from the fight.

The man angrily grunted, turned around and quickly swung at Ruby. The young girl caught his fist, pushed it back, and kicked him across the stomach three times before flipping him over her head and onto the ground. Finally, she climbed on top of him, and stomped on the back of his skull, knocking him unconscious.

There was silence for a moment, as the crowd soaked in Ruby's victory. No woman had ever competed in one of their fights, yet alone won. The crowd suddenly bursted into applause and cheering as Ruby left the arena.

There was another man waiting for her outside the arena. He was dressed in dark clothing, and covered his face. Ruby felt unnerved by the man, and stopped, staring at him. He stared back, the two just a few short feet away from each other.

"You cost my employer quite a bit of cash." He ominously said.

The man suddenly reached into his jacket, without breaking eye contact with Ruby, and pulled out a gun. She didn't allow him any time, and grabbed the gun, smashing his wrist with her free hand. In a matter of seconds, she had the gun in her own hands, pointed right at his chest. And without a second thought, as if it were an instinct, she pulled the trigger twice, dropping the clip and the gun next. She then returned to her seat at the bar, where the bartender handed her a wad of cash and a drink. No one seemed to care that she had shot that man.

Except for the bartender.

"So," he said, pausing, as if he were trying to remember something. "Miss Rose?"

She looked up at him. It wasn't angry look, or a joyful one. But rather there was no emotion on her face. And it gave him chills. But he continued with the conversation nonetheless.

"You learn that in Atlas?" He asked.

She nodded, lying. She wasn't actually sure, but decided to go along with it. His eyes widened and a smile spread across his face.

"You black ops or somethin'?" He asked.

"Does it matter?" She asked.

"No." he told her.

"Okay, then." She said. "Conversation over."

She looked back down at her drink, taking a sip, then returning to the previous position.

The bartender looked around, then leaned in.

"How would you like to put those skills to use?" He asked.

Ruby looked up.

"And get paid for it too." He added.

"Mercenary work?" She asked.

He nodded, and she scoffed.

"Who do you think I am?" She asked.

"A killer." He told her.

"I did that because I had to." She defended.

He shook his head. "How 'bout this?" He asked. "You do one job see if you like it?"

She shook her head. "No. Absolutely—"

"Or," He interjected. "I call the police, and have them sort out the body lying in the middle of my bar."

Ruby brushed the hair from in front of her face.

"You wouldn't." She angrily said.

He waved around the scroll that was in his hand.

"Have it your way." He said.

Ruby heard him dial a nine. One—

"Stop." She told him. "I'll do it."

He grinned, and handed her a card. It had a name and a picture on it.

"No killing just yet." The bartender said. "Just scare the shit out of 'em."

Ruby angrily took the card from his hand, reading the name and examining the picture.

"Hei Xiong" was the name written on the card. Below that, in quotation marks was his nickname, "Junior" and the picture was that of a bearded man.

Ruby stood, picked up the gun and the ammo she had dropped and exited the bar.


	5. Friction

Ruby slowly entered Junior's nightclub, not caring enough to look around and take in her surroundings. She wasn't very happy with the job she had been given and just wanted to get it over with. The job had required that she fly to Vale to meet the guy.

As she made her way through the crowd, she saw a blonde woman walking past her. And she looked familiar. The feeling of deja vu gave the girl a slight headache, and quick images flashed in her mind. They were of the woman. The vision was also from her own perspective.

She fired a gun in the air as two other women, one with black hair and a bow, and one with white hair. The white haired woman was laying on the ground, blood staining her white dress as the one with black hair tried to stop the bleeding. A metallic hand reached up and tore a mask from her face. And the women froze, all staring at her with shocked expressions. The black haired woman stood, releasing pressure from the white haired woman's wound.

Ruby then pointed the gun down at the white haired woman, pulling the trigger three quick times.

And the vision ended. Ruby was now standing in the center of the nightclub, gun in hand. There were several bullet holes in the floor and everyone stared at her.

She blinked a few times, and made sure her hoodie was still covering her face.

Ruby ultimately decided to take advantage of her incident.

She quickly raised the gun into the air, firing another shot.

"Where is Hei Xiong?!" She shouted.

All eyes were on her, but no one answered. She lowered the gun, pointing it into the crowd.

"Junior. Where is he?!" She asked again, hoping that they would understand his nickname.

Still. The crowd remained silent. So she fired a round into the crowd. The shot wasn't high enough for it to kill anyone, but it would definitely hurt someone.

Seconds later, at least ten men, all dressed in black and red suits came, all carrying guns and pointing them at her. Without a second's hesitation, she pointed it at one's head, pulling the trigger and repeating twice more to two others, before she aimed at another, and pulled the trigger. This time, no bullet flew at the man's skull, but rather a loud click was made. She was out of ammunition.

She dropped her gun and quickly ran forward, grabbing the man's outstretched hand, jumping over him, and pulling the arm over her shoulder. He cried out in pain and dropped his weapon, allowing Ruby to grab it. From there, she was able to quickly eliminate the remaining men with well placed shots.

"Where is Junior?!" She asked yet again.

There was no answer, yet she heard voices.

"We're huntresses. Excuse us."

"Pardon me."

Ruby quickly turned and aimed her weapon at the source. Before her stood two of the women from her vision, the black haired woman, and the blonde woman. The vision showed that they were clearly her enemies. However, they did not recognize her because of the hood.

"How about," The blonde woman said. "You just leave and no one gets hurt?"

Ruby scoffed. "How about I just stay and no one gets hurt?"

The blonde rolled her eyes. "I can't let you kill Junior." She said. "No matter how much I hate him."

Ruby slid the gun back into her hoodie, shaking her head. "I'm not here to kill him." She said. "I'm here to give him this." She quickly pulled out the card the bartender had given her, the message on the back.

"Let's make a deal, then." The blonde said with a happy grin. "You give that to me, and I'll pass it along?"

Ruby paused for a second, reading her body language. She seemed trustworthy, so she outstretched her hand, so that the card was within the woman's reach.

"I don't want to be here anyway." Ruby told her. "Take it."

The blonde woman quickly grabbed the card, as if she was worried Ruby might do something. But she didn't. She just nodded, and turned around.

[Shift]

Yang watched the hooded woman leave the nightclub, carefully making sure she wasn't going to try anything. And she didn't. She was honest. An honest mercenary. That was a first. Yang had met many mercenaries in the past, but none of them had a shred of honesty. But that one, she was different. And on top of that, Yang thought she sounded a bit like Ruby. Of course, she had been thinking that about everyone these days, and pushed those thoughts aside.

Yang looked down at the card the mercenary had given her. On one side was Junior's picture, as well as his name. But on the other side was the message. It said something about Junior owing someone else a large amount of money. She shrugged and delivered the message as promised. Junior, of course wasn't very happy about the damage done to his club, or the message and immediately ordered her to leave.

When Yang stepped outside, she saw that Blake was waiting for her by Bumbleby.

"Let's go." Blake impatiently said.

Yang rolled her eyes, stepping onto the bike.

"There a problem, Belladonna?" She cockily asked.

Blake got onto the back of the bike before answering.

"Just a little tired of mercenaries just coincidentally bumping into us wherever we go." She said.

"I can understand that." Yang said.


	6. It Comes Back To You

[Three Years Earlier]

Weiss was roughly shoved through the walls of Vytal's only maximum security prison. It was normally only for mercenaries, trained assassins and political prisoners. But for Weiss they made an exception. She was the first Schnee to go to prison for anything, as they usually bought their way out of situations like this one, but due to the publicity of the case, their stocks dropped and Winter was ejected from the company. Any chance Whitley had at taking her father's place was gone now. And so was all the money. The Schnee family was now a middle class family, the name no longer carrying the same weight as it used to.

Now, the only emotion the Schnee name provoked was disgust, instead of fear. And as far as Weiss was concerned, it was Ruby's— No, Perseus' fault.

The prison guards shoved her into a small, dark room with nothing in it other than a table and two chairs. They ordered the Schnee to take a seat and left. Soon after, someone Weiss thought she'd never see again stepped through the door. Professor Ozpin.

And for the first time ever, he looked angry. He didn't have any coffee, or even his cane. And he glared at her.

"I suppose you're here to reprimand me?" Weiss coolly asked.

Ozpin shook his head, "No," he said solemnly. "I'm here to tell you about the damage you have caused."

Weiss leaned forward as the man sat down across from her.

"What makes you think I'll listen?" She asked.

"Because you have no other choice." He growled.

Weiss showed no expression, just stared at him.

"Let's just get this over with." She finally said, leaning back.

Ozpin slowly shook his head, "Do you know why your father wanted you to kill your teammate?" He asked.

"No."

"I do." Ozpin stood and began to slowly walk around the room. "Did you know that he's been hunting her since she was only three?" He asked.

Weiss shook her head. "This was about nothing more than me becoming leader of Team RWBY." She told him.

He shook his head, "So intelligent, yet so narrow minded." He said.

"What do you know that I don't?" Weiss asked. "Because I'm losing my patience here!"

Ozpin sat back down. "I'll just cut to the chase here." He said. "Your father wanted her dead because he didn't want the Schnee family on the streets."

Weiss raised an eyebrow, "And Ruby would achieve such a thing, how?"

"She was born with an ability to make the Grimm…" He paused. "Fear."

Weiss said nothing, but just stared at him.

"Miss Rose could have pushed the Grimm into extinction. And do you know what that would have done to your father's company?"

Weiss squinted at him. "No one person could do such a thing to the Grimm."

"Rose could." Ozpin said. "I've seen it."

"That sufferable girl never amounted to anything." Weiss spat.

Ozpin stood. "Believe me or not," he said. "You're going to be here for a very long time."

And then he left, leaving Weiss in the dark room with nothing but her own thoughts.


	7. Trouble

Ruby quickly walked down the street, scanning the nearby buildings for the bar sign. She was going to let the bartender know that she had completed the job, and that she was done. And that would be the last time he would ever see her.

It wasn't too long before she spotted the neon sign that pointed it out, and entered the bar. But she was surprised to see that it was nearly empty. There were only about four or five people there, all together in a booth. And they all stared at her as she entered, as if she had done something she wasn't supposed to. She noticed that they didn't look like the kind of people that would gather in a bar like this. They were, for lack of a better term, nerds. They all sat huddled around their laptops. But as soon as she entered, they closed them.

The bartender swiftly stepped out of the back room, already speaking.

"Can't you read? It says we're clos—!" He stopped. "Oh. It's just you."

"I did what you asked." She said. "And I'm out."

Ruby turned around to leave, but she felt his hand grab her shoulder. She jerked away and began to walk faster, but he called after her.

"I know about your past." He said. She stopped, and turned around.

"What past?" She asked.

The bartender turned to the people in the booth, "Explain." He told them.

One of the nerds stood. He was of average height and wore a blue and red track jacket along with a blue shirt. He had on black glasses, and his ginger hair was swiftly combed to the side. And he also had a beard, but it was neat, unlike many other that Ruby had seen before. And he was nervous.

"You're Perseus." He stuttered out, "You worked alongside General Ironwood in Atlas, and you're black-ops." The man began to slowly gain confidence as he spoke, "But, not in a huntress kind of way— no, you're like a step up from that."

There was a long silence, as she waited for him to continue, but he did not.

"I don't remember any of that." She said.

A large smile spread across his face, and he looked at his friends for a second, then back at her.

"That's what happened to you!" He pointed at her and laughed a little. "A lot of people thought that after what happened with Schnee, you were locked up, maybe even executed." He told her. "But they wiped you!"

"Wait," Ruby said, "What do you mean, a lot of people?"

The man shrugged.

"There are a shit-ton of Internet forums about you." He said. "The average citizen doesn't wanna believe you exist. But, I guess we know better, don't we?" He chuckled and sat back down.

"How did you find me?" She asked, a little angrily.

The man became nervous again, "Uh, well, Markus here, he, uh, he started telling people that he knew where to find you, so we came up here to see for ourselves." He pointed to the bartender. And Ruby lunged forward, grabbing "Markus" by the throat with one hand and slamming him onto a nearby table.

The people in the booth all jumped, obviously scared by her actions. But she didn't seem to care, pulling a gun from her jacket, and pressing it against his chin.

"What do you want from me?!" She shouted.

He squirmed under her grip, "Just mercenary work!" He said. "That's it!"

She pulled back the hammer.

"You sure?" She asked.

He nodded and she pulled the gun away, walking towards the exit. But then she stopped.

"I'll be back tomorrow." She said. "Have something ready for me then."

Ruby quickly turned back around and pointed at those in the booth, "And you!" She said. "See what else you kind find out."

And with those final words, she left the bar.


	8. Thief

"What'cha got?" Ruby asked, flinging the bar's door open. The nerds jumped, but Ruby didn't really notice. Or care. After they didn't immediately respond, she asked again.

"Anything new?"

They collectively shook their heads. And she nodded.

"Alright," she said, continuing to walk towards where Markus was, behind the counter. "Just keep working, you'll find something."

"Y-Yes ma'am." One of them stuttered out.

This caused her to stop dead in her tracks and turn around, slowly. She strode over to the booth, and put her hands on the table. Their looks of fear were extremely evident.

"As long as you're not doing anything to screw me over," she slowly said, "You have nothing to fear."

Ruby pushed off the table and walked over to the bar.

"You got a job for me?" She asked Markus.

He nodded, grinning. "This one's a little more… You."

He then crouched down, pulling a large, metal case out from under the bar. He quickly unmatched it and spun it around for Ruby to open. Inside was two small black rectangles, alongside a handgun, and a knife hilt.

"What's this?" She asked.

"Expandable weapons." He told her. "No metal detector can find them, and they're easier to carry around."

Ruby reached for the weapons, but he slammed the case shut. She looked up at him, glaring.

Markus, however, had a look on his face, as if to say 'Not yet!'

"What?" She asked.

"You gonna go out dressed like that?" He asked.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" She asked.

"You look like a merc." He told her.

"What do you suggest I wear?" She leaned over the bar.

"A dress." He deadpanned.

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "A dress?" He nodded. But she shook her head. "No. No way. I'm not wearing a dress."

Markus rolled his eyes. "You can't do this one wearing that!" He motioned to her blue fur hoodie, white, blood stained T-shirt, and jeans.

"Why a dress?!" She asked.

He sighed. "The guy you're gonna kill, he'll go into an isolated area with just about any woman who comes onto him."

Ruby gave him a disgusted look. "You want me to sleep with him?!"

Markus shook his head, "No, no, no." He said. "You make him think that you're going to, then you kill him."

Ruby grunted angrily as she stomped down the street. Markus had somehow convinced her to wear the dress for this. All she had to do was get into the guy's nightclub, get a little touchy-feely, put one into his skull, then get the hell out.

And, while Ruby didn't like the idea that he was trying to tell her that her sexuality was her greatest weapon. Because it wasn't. Her greatest weapon was any gun she could get her hands on.

"I'm an assassin," she quietly grumbled. "Not a hooker."

Even though she was upset that she had to wear a dress, she was happy that he didn't make her wear heels, because she didn't think she'd be able to handle that.

As the nightclub entered Ruby's line of sight, so did a limousine. And out stepped her target. She thought herself extremely lucky for this, as the line to get in was a mile long, and he was alone.

She quickly approached him, and tapped his shoulder, the man quickly turned around and checked her out, smiling, before he looked back up at her face. The smile had disappeared, and he made sure to look her in the eyes.

"ID first, sweetheart." He said, grinning. "I'm not going back."

Luckily for Ruby, there was one pocket on the dress, one that she had used to store her ID. It was fake, of course, as they had to drastically alter her appearance to make sure no one could link her to the crime. They had dyed her hair blonde, and added extensions to make it a bit longer. They also have her green contacts, and used makeup to cover up her many scars.

She seductively smiled as she handed him the slip of plastic. He smiled and handed it back.

"Come on, darling." He said, holding his hand out for her. She made a fake giggle and took his hand, allowing him to link arms with her.

The two walked into the nightclub, and the first thing Ruby noticed, was that everyone was staring at them. But she played it cool, and acted as though she enjoyed the attention.

She followed her target around for the rest of the night, trying to make sure she didn't blow her cover. And, much later in the night, as the two were sitting at the bar, he grabbed her thigh. She giggled drunkenly, despite being disgusted by the act. He leaned in, whispering seductively into her ear.

"Why don't we go somewhere private?" He asked.

She giggled and nodded.

"I thought you'd never ask." She told him.

'Good.' She thought, 'This is almost over.'

He stood and grabbed her hand, leading her to a door just beside the bar. He opened the door for her and let her go through first, grabbing her rear end as she did.

It made Ruby want to throw up, the fact that he did this to women on a regular basis. Was she the only one with any self respect?

The room he took her to was a bedroom, obviously designed for that specific purpose.

'Disgusting.' She thought.

But she just giggled again, as he closed the door behind him. And as soon as he did, she began to reach for the knife Markus had given her. But, before she could wrap her hand around the hilt, he grabbed her, pulling her in close, and began to kiss her.

Once again, Ruby reached for the blade, but once again, before she could grab it, he pushed her onto the bed. She smiled seductively as he climbed in after her.

'Oh, God.' She thought. 'I need to get that knife. And soon.'

If he actually managed to get the dress off of her before she could make the kill, he would see the knife strapped to her outer thigh. Luckily, the one he had neglected earlier.

He then climbed on top of her, kissing and groping her. Then one of his hands began to move south.

'Enough is enough,' she thought, 'Damn the consequences!'

She quickly pulled the knife and pushed him off, shoving the blade into his adam's apple. He choked and gurgled, grabbed his throat as blood poured out of his neck and mouth. She grinned as she put both feet on either one of his shoulders and shoved him onto the floor.

Next, Ruby grabbed the man's scroll and wallet, calling a cab, and exiting the room. She was sure to close the door behind her. And she left, a large grin on her face as she climbed into the cab.

 **A/N: I promise this is actually important to the overall storyline.**


	9. Roots

**A/N: Sorry this took a while to write, I honestly didn't know where to go with it. And I will just say, I have a bad history of spoiling the story, so once I figure out what I want to do, I'm not going to answer any "So, what's gonna** **happen from here?" questions in the** **reviews.**

As Ruby returned to the bar, she was surprised to see the two women from Junior's nightclub sitting at the bar. What were they doing in Mystral? Did they know her? Ruby quickly pushed these thoughts aside, remembering that she was still wearing her disguise from the other nightclub.

"You two again?" She loudly asked.

Both women quickly turned to look at her. Their shocked expressions quickly gave way to confused ones.

"I don't believe we know you." The black haired woman said.

Ruby scoffed. "You don't remember Junior's nightclub?" She playfully asked.

The blonde woman stood, "You!" She pointed an accusatory finger at Ruby. "What are you doing here?!"

Ruby rolled her eyes, and pointed to Markus, "Markus here is a good friend of mine." She said.

The black haired woman lightly pushed the blonde woman back into her seat, "Yang," she said. "This woman has as much the right to be here as we do."

"Blake," 'Yang' said. "She's a mercenary. Someone who kills for money. She's a criminal."

Ruby chuckled. "You're thinking of an assassin," she said. "A mercenary will do anything unethical for money."

As she said this, she slowly walked to the bar, running her finger along the edge as she walked towards the two.

"We kill, beat, extort, and occasionally fight for whatever kingdom has the biggest checkbook." Once Ruby reached the center of the bar, she stopped and reached over the counter, grabbing the briefcase Markus had shown her earlier. The two women watched as she slowly unlatched it, opening it and pulling out the handgun.

Both of them jumped out of their seats, but she didn't even flinch as she pointed the weapon at them.

"And I have had a very long day today. So leave."

Yang growled at her, causing her to laugh.

"You don't scare me, blondie." Ruby told her, pulling back the hammer. "I've killed people ten times stronger than you will ever be without even breaking a sweat." She said. "I've killed over a hundred people, and I've never felt a second's remorse for any of them. So if you think I won't kill both of you, you are sadly mistaken."

The two women put their hands up, but didn't move.

"Leave!" She angrily shouted.

Suddenly, the black haired woman, Blake as she had been called, rushed forward, so Ruby shot her. But, her body dissipated into a cloud of black smoke. Then, something hit Ruby in the back of the head, pushing her forward. Yang swung at her, but she managed to dodge it, rolling to the side.

As soon as Ruby stood, Yang charged her. Ruby quickly flipped over her, launching the woman into a nearby table. The table immediately broke.

Ruby immediately pointed her weapon at Blake, firing three shots at the woman, who again, dissipated.

Yang now stood, again charging Ruby. Ruby sidestepped at the last possible second, and Yang went over the bar. But of course, Ruby had forgotten about Blake, who managed to get behind the mercenary and land another kick to the back of her head. The kick launched Ruby's head into the bar, and knocked her out.


	10. Underdog

A hooded figure walked slowly through the barren landscape, the snow on the ground crunching under their feet as they walked. But then they stopped, kneeling down in front of a grave.

"Ruby Rose

Stars Are Only Visible In Darkness."

Their gloved hand ran across the engraving, fingers tracing each and every letter.

"I thought you were dead." A voice called from behind them. They didn't turn around, not even moving.

"You can't blame yourself for what she did." The voice said.

"I don't." He told the voice, his own voice hoarse, as though it had been weeks since he last spoke. Now, he stood, turning around to face the source of the voice; Taiyang Xiao-Long.

"Taiyang," he said. "You and I both know that she's still alive. Somewhere. You're her father. You must feel it. Just as I do."

Taiyang cautiously watched the man, a look of concern on his face. He shook his head.

"I saw her break her restraints and blow her own brains out." He told the man. "So, no."

The man shook his head.

"No…" He said. "You're hiding her. Somewhere. You must be."

"And why would I do that?" Taiyang asked.

"To protect her." The man said.

There was a long silence between the two before the man spoke again.

"You can't keep her hidden away forever." He said. "You can't keep her to yourself."

Taiyang noticed the rather aggressive tone the man was using, so he made sure he was ready to defend himself.

The man shook his head.

"I'm not going to fight you." He said.

Taiyang disregarded these words.

"You're acting strange, Jaune." He said.

Jaune shook his head.

"She was the one person I cared about most…" he quietly said. "And you took her away from me!" He suddenly screamed, taking a quick step forward. The sudden movement knocked his hood down, revealing his rather odd look. His hair was much thicker than it had been the last time they had met, and was even a bit longer, now going down to his chin. His face was covered in a thin, untamed beard. And he looked furious.

"She's gone, Jaune." Taiyang said. "She's in a much better place now."

"I fell for that the first time!" Jaune shouted. "I won't fall for it again!"

"This isn't a trick," Taiyang tried to tell him. "I wish it was. But it isn't. She's dead, Jaune."

"Liar!" Jaune shouted. Taiyang shook his head, turning his back to the boy.

 **A/N: Sorry it's short, just getting** **a few things across.**


	11. Ready Aim Fire

**A/N: Yet another chapter! Yay! I didn't post yesterday because I didn't sleep well, and in the event that this doesn't go up today, it just took a while to write.**

 **Alternate RedSkys: Good Jaune still has hope and isn't being fooled by Taiyang. Jaune skills must have improved a lot over time. I hope he can find Ruby in time.**

 **Define "In-Time"**

 **Rwby vol 4: I want to see Jaune find Ruby again!**

 **Patience, young padawan!**

 **Knight7572: If Jaune hurts Taiyang, Raven and Qrow would be mad at him and Summer might haunt him.**

 **Who said that Summer would** **agree with Taiyang's decision?**

 **Guest: Nothing was pointed across that wasn't already figured out since chapter 1 this chapter is nothing but a thing you wrote as the reader waits for a chapter that actually has a purpose and the fact it is even more insulting.**

 **Listen, it doesn't directly set up** **anything in this chapter, but prevents** **plot holes.**

When Ruby came to, she noticed that she was being dragged. Her legs were outstretched behind her and hands had tight grips on both of her arms. Her first reaction was to try and jerk away from the hands, but failed. Their grip was tight.

"She's awake." A voice said.

One hand let go, but the other just gripped her even tighter. Suddenly, another hand came in, wrapping around her throat and lifting her up.

It was the blonde woman from earlier. She opened her mouth to speak, but someone cut her off.

"Xiao-Long!" They harshly said. It was a man. "Drop her!"

Yang dropped her, and she fell to her knees, coughing.

Yang then turned to the man behind her, shocked to see that it was Ironwood. Ironwood brushed past her and kneeled down next to the mercenary.

"Your appearance has changed quite a bit since we last met." He told her. "But, none the less…"

Ironwood pulled out a small, blue book with the atlas logo on the front, opening it to the center he began to read.

"Longing." He began. "Dead. Reformed. Daybreak."

"What are you doing?" Blake worriedly asked. Ironwood ignored her and kept reading.

"Fifteen. Benign. Titan."

Yang looked on in concern as the mercenary's face switched to that of a zombie, emotionless and devoid of life.

"Beacon. One." Ironwood paused before saying the final word, "Forest."

The mercenary slowly blinked, looking up at the General.

"Ready to comply." She robotically said.

"Oh, shit." Yang said. "She's a fucking sleeper agent."

"Perseus." Ironwood said to the girl. "Your assignment is to kill these two."

Yang's eyes widened. "Ruby?" She quietly asked.

Ruby quickly stood, walking towards her former teammates with a rather murderous look on her face. But Yang didn't move.

Blake quickly grabbed her by the back of her collar and pulled her away.

Yang jerked away from Blake and began to walk towards the dress wearing soldier.

"Yang!" Blake shouted. "It's not her!"

Yang didn't listen, and kept walking towards the woman, who suddenly grabbed her sleeve and tore it off, revealing the metallic arm underneath.

Blake stopped.

"Maybe it is…" She quietly said.

"Ruby, stop." Yang compassionately said.

The woman ignored her, closing the now short distance between the two. But she stopped just a few inches away from Yang.

"She's defensive, Yang." Blake said. "If you don't attack, she—."

Before Blake could even finish her sentence, Ruby uppercutted Yang, launching the blonde upwards.

"Shit." The faunas said. She quickly equipped Gambol Shroud and began to fire at Ruby rapidly. But it didn't seem to phase her. She just kept walking towards the faunas.

With just a few inches between the two of them, Blake ran out of ammo. Before she could reload or even put her weapon back into katana form, Ruby slapped it out of her hands, grabbing her by the throat.

She didn't have Blake in that position for very long of course, as Yang quickly punched her in the ribs, launching her into a nearby apartment building. Given the extra time, Yang turned to Blake.

"Call the cops," she said. "Tell that Atlas is attacking."

"What about you?" Blake asked, bending to pick her weapon back up.

"I'll hold her off."

Ruby suddenly kicked down the door to the apartment, stepping back out, onto the street. She began to walk towards Yang, but stopped, and jumped into the air just as a bullhead passed by, landing perfectly inside of it.

Ironwood quickly closed the door behind her.

"I'm going to catch a ton of shit for this." He said, shaking his head.

He suddenly pulled out his scroll, and dialed Taiyang's number. The man quickly answered.

"We have a problem." Ironwood said.

"What is it, James?" He angrily asked.

"Yang knows."

"You're kidding me, right?" He asked.

"I wish I was." Ironwood said. "I'm gonna have to wipe her again. This time I don't know if we can integrate her into society."

"What are you suggesting?"

"She will never have the life you want for her. I'm going to wipe her and reintegrate her into Atlas." Ironwood told him.

"You can't do that!" Taiyang shouted.

"Who is going to stop us, Tai?" He asked. "No one wants to start a war over a teenage girl."

"Next time I see you," Taiyang said. "I'm going to kill you."

Ironwood chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind when I send Perseus to eliminate all nonessential personnel who possess information about Project Perseus."

Taiyang quickly hung up and dialed Yang's number.

"What did you do?!" He shouted.

"What did I do?!" Yang shouted back. "Ironwood just showed up and started saying a few magic words, and she turned into a killing machine."

"What were you even doing in Mystral?" He asked.

"Blake and I got assigned to arrest some mercenary that killed a high end nightclub owner." She said. "The plans of it were all over the Internet, saying when it was, and where they were going to meet. But not what club. I didn't know it was her until Ironwood showed up."

"Ironwood is putting her back into the situation I pulled her out of." Taiyang said.

"Wait," Yang said. "You knew?!"

"Of course I knew, Yang." He said. "It was either that or life in prison. And she was fifteen!"

"You could have at least told me!" She shot back.

"That doesn't matter now!" He told her. "Now that it's out there that she's alive, James is having everyone who knows about it killed! You need to get somewhere safe!"

Before he could hear Yang's response, the door flew open, a bearded man standing in the doorway.

"I gotta go." Taiyang said, quickly hanging up.

"You lied to me." Jaune said, unsheathing Crocea Mors.

Taiyang sighed. "I can tell you where to find her." He said. Jaune didn't stop moving towards him, but still seemed interested in what Tai had to say.

"Ironwood has her. He's going to use her as a weapon if we don't stop him."

Jaune stopped, a look of fear and worry on his face.

"Where is she?"


	12. I'm So Sorry

Ruby sat in a cold, metallic chair. Her arms were strapped down, ensuring that she didn't move. Metallic arms came down from the ceiling, resting metal plates on her face. On covered her left eye, and the other rested on her right cheek.

Her head hurt and she didn't know why. The room's bright lights only worsened her head ache. Suddenly, a tall figure stood in front of the her, blocking her eyes from the burning light. They kneeled down in front of her.

"What do you remember, Miss Rose?" He asked.

"Yang." She said. "Where's Yang?"

The man shook his head.

"Where's my sister?!" Ruby asked, a little more aggressively this time. She tried to remove her arms from her restraints, but the man didn't even flinch. They were made to keep her from breaking out, and there was no way she was going to succeed.

"Wipe her." The man said. He stepped away from Ruby and an electric hum filled the room. Ruby's headache was intensified by the plates on her face. She felt as though her head was going to explode. And she screamed in pain, both physical and emotional. She knew what they were doing, and she knew what they would make her do. She didn't want to kill Yang. She didn't want to kill her family.

The humming stopped, and so did the screaming. Ruby slumped down in the chair, her thoughts of sadness and pain now gone. She felt nothing. She remembered no one.

"Longing." A deep voice echoed through the room, causing Ruby to blankly stare at the source. Stood in front of her was a young man in a uniform of some sort. A military uniform.

"Dead." He continued. "Reformed. Daybreak. Fifteen. Benign. Titan. Beacon. One."

The feeling of emptiness was washed away by that of a sense of purpose.

"Ready to comply." She told the man. He set down a small blue book on a nearby table and picked something else up, immediately showing it to Ruby.

"Your targets." He told her.

The first picture was that of a blonde woman. Then, a blonde man with a sole patch. A woman with black hair. A woman with ginger hair. A man with black and pink hair. A man with silver hair, and another man with black hair.

There was one more photo, but he paused before showing it to her.

"This next one is your number one priority target. He's a very deceptive man. And will tell you any lie he can to save his own skin."

He moved away the last picture, showing Ruby a picture of a much younger blonde man.

"Understood." She told the man.

[Shift]

Taiyang quickly drove through the streets of Vale. Yang was in the passenger seat, and Jaune and Blake were in the back. They were trying to reach Beacon, in hopes of finding somewhere that Atlas wouldn't dare send Ruby. Ren, Nora and Qrow were already there, being teachers at the school.

Atlas wouldn't dare enter Beacon with a soldier like Ruby. Not after last time. They had narrowly avoided war with the claim that Perseus was AWOL, and that the attacks were made mainly on a citizen of Atlas, alongside a few of those from Mystral, who knew they didn't stand a chance against Atlas in a time of war.

The airship depot was in sight, just a few more blocks and—

A woman dressed in mostly black stepped into the intersection. She had the same face mask on that Ruby had wore those final days at Beacon, as well as a similar vest and pants. The only difference now being the fingerless gloves she wore over both of her hands, metallic and flesh.

She carried a large assault rifle, with a rather obvious grenade launcher attached to the bottom. And she aimed it right at them. Taiyang quickly slammed on the brakes as a grenade hit the road, rolling underneath the vehicle. He tried to quickly move the car away from the explosive, but failed, causing the car to flip, only their auras protecting them from the sizable explosion.

Seconds after the explosion, Jaune was roughly pulled from the vehicle, a familiar metallic hand slamming into his jaw. He fell to the ground, but began to quickly pick himself back up. However, before he could completely stand, he noticed Ruby pointing her gun at his head.

"Ruby," he said. "Stop. We're your friends."

She subtly shook her head, switching off the safety with a loud click.

"You lie." She quietly said. Her finger began to squeeze the trigger, but something big hit her in the face, knocking her down.

She quickly stood back up, watching one of the car's tires roll away from her.

"Ruby." Yang said. "Stop."

"Stop calling me that." Ruby said, now pointing her gun across the car, at Yang, who didn't flinch.

"Why?" Yang asked. "It's your name."

Ruby shook her head. "I don't have a name."

Yang closed her eyes and sighed.

"You and I spent fifteen years together." She said. "You have to remember something!"

"Drop the weapon!" A voice shouted from many yards away. Yang quickly looked over at the source, spotting a police man standing on the sidewalk not too far away.

Without a second thought, Ruby slowly turned her weapon on him, putting one bullet into his head, then, she turned back to Yang, firing at her chest. Yang immediately fell backwards, onto the hard concrete.

Then, Jaune stood, tackling Ruby to the ground before she could hurt anyone else. He wrestled with her, attempting to get the gun away from her.

Yang could see all of this from where she was laying. She wasn't hurt, no, not physically anyway. She even considered helping Jaune, but ultimately decided not to, as she could also see that her father and Blake were both unconscious.

Without a second's hesitation, Yang quickly pulled Blake from the backseat, at least she tried, anyway, as the faunas still had her seatbelt on. Yang quickly tore the belt in half, pulling Blake through the window.

Next, Yang opened the passenger door and crawled in, tearing Taiyang's seatbelt and beginning to drag him out. Unfortunately, Ruby saw her, and began to quickly try to pull the trigger on her gun. This only made Yang speed up. She had already gotten her father from the car by the time Ruby did pull the trigger, so she managed to shield the man from the bullets, sacrificing what little aura she had left.

Finally, Jaune tore the gun from Ruby's hands, tossing it far away from the red head. Next, he grabbed both of her wrists, pinning them to the pavement. She desperately thrashed around, trying to release herself from his grip.

"Ruby!" He said. "Calm down."

"I told you to stop calling me that!" She angrily screamed, tearing her prosthetic arm from his grip and wrapping it around his throat.

He responded to this by hitting her in the face, over and over. This only caused her to tighten her grip, but it did nothing, as his aura was nowhere near depleted. Hers, however was dropping rapidly. She knew that if she took one more hit, she would have no aura, no defense against these people who, in her mind wanted only to harm her.

In a last ditch effort to save herself, she pulled her arm away from his throat, reeling it back and slamming it into his chin. This final effort worked, sending Jaune flying off of her.

However, Yang had no intentions of sitting this fight out, especially after all that had just happened.

Ruby stood, and so did Yang. The two quickly locked eyes, both knowing what was about to happen.


	13. Bleeding Out

**A/N: It has come to my attention that you guys aren't happy that I based the last chapter off of the second Captain America movie, but I would just like to say that this whole series of fanfics is mostly based off of the Captain America movies,** **specifically the Winter Soldier.**

Without missing a beat, Ruby quickly tore one of the car's tires off, just as Yang had earlier, and tossed it at the blonde. Yang effortlessly punched the tire out of the way, watching it bounce and roll down the street.

Next, Ruby quickly climbed onto the car, using the side of it to launch herself up and over and overturned vehicle. She quickly descended upon her sister, kicking her to the side, and landing in front of her.

Yang quickly swung at Ruby, who caught the punch with her metallic arm. Yang swung with her other hand, and Ruby tried to catch this one as well, but the force was too great for her flesh arm, launching the soldier several feet backwards, rolling head over heels across the concrete. Just the impact of Yang's punch was enough to shatter her aura, so Ruby definitely felt the impact of the concrete.

Her mask tore off during her rather violent looking roll. Now, Ruby tried to weakly get to her feet, her flesh arm shaking as she used it to push herself up. Suddenly, she planted her fist into the ground and pushed, launching herself to her feet.

Yang could now see Ruby's blood soaked face. There was a large cut on her nose, as well as one on her lip and a much bigger one on her left cheek.

"I'm going to kill you for that." Ruby angrily said.

Yang shook her head. "Just for that?" She asked.

Ruby ignored her question and charged the blonde, grabbing her waist and tackling her to the ground, hitting Yang over and over again, each time with more rage than the last. Ruby screamed in rage as the blonde's blood splattered onto her silver arm.

"Ruby…" Yang weakly said, not even trying to fight anymore. "Don't do this."

Ruby raised her arm above her head to finish her off, but she couldn't bring it down on her skull. Nothing was stopping her, so why couldn't she. All of her instincts screamed not to do it. Not to kill this woman.

"Get away from her!" A woman's voice shouted. The voice was immediately followed by a gunshot. And Ruby froze, while Yang just look up at her in shock, as the younger girl fell to the side, blood leaking out of her mouth. Ruby coughed and gagged, grabbing the bullet wound with her flesh hand, and pressing down.

Behind where Ruby had been, was Blake, still pointing Gambol Shroud's gun at the space where Ruby once was. And the look on her face was that of horror, as she stared down at Ruby. The bullet hadn't hit her anywhere that would have been instantly fatal, but she still felt horrible knowing that she could be at fault if Ruby bled out.

The two remaining members of RWBY quickly scrambled to their feet, kneeling over their former leader, and both trying to stop the bleeding.

"Oh my God." Yang quietly said, tears beginning to form. Was this going to be the actual last time she saw Ruby alive. Yang quickly looked up, scanning the sidewalks filled with civilian onlookers.

"Someone call an ambulance!" She shouted.

No one moved.

"Do something!" Yang screamed. Her eyes turned red as she continued to scan the crowd.

"I got it, Yang." Jaune quickly stepped in, also kneeling beside Ruby with his scroll in hand,

"Where were you?" Yang angrily asked.

"Not a whole lotta time passed since she tossed me aside, Yang." He told her, dialing a few numbers on his scroll and putting it up to his ear. Jaune moved his free hand down to Ruby's face, caressing her undamaged cheek.

"You're gonna be okay…" he quietly told her.

 **A/N: So, is the story ending, or just beginning? Even I don't know! I could just end here if I wanted to, not that I'm going to, I hate it when people do that. But, will Ruby regain her memory? Will she be able to be a free woman, or will she be arrested for her many crimes (against Skyrim and her people. What say you in your defense?) Or will she be** **pardoned in exchange for serving Vale in a possible war against Atlas? And I will go ahead and apologize for how short this chapter is, it was honestly an accident, I just kinda wrote until I felt the chapter was over.**


	14. Not Today

When Ruby woke up, she noticed that she was in an entirely white room, laying in a white bed. She could hear the repetitive beeping that echoed through the room every second or two.

Ruby tried to sit up, but immediately noticed that her arms and legs were restrained, securely strapped to the bed to ensure she didn't move. This only caused Ruby to struggle more, despite the throbbing pain in her stomach and lower back.

The door suddenly opened, and a few people stepped through, none of their eyes leaving her as she ceased struggling. Among the people were her sister, father, and Professor Ozpin.

"Yang?" She asked. "Dad? What—" She suddenly paused, the memories of the past few hours flooding back into her mind.

"Oh my God," she quietly said. "I-I'm so sorry!"

"How do we know if we're talking to Ruby or Perseus?" Taiyang skeptically asked. Ruby paused for a second, before turning to Yang.

"You used to put your hair in pigtails so that Dad didn't know how long it actually was." She quickly said.

Taiyang and Ozpin turned to Yang to see if the statement was indeed true. She nodded.

"I've never told anyone other than Ruby that information." Yang said.

Ozpin suddenly looked at someone whom Ruby had not seen enter the room; two nurses, then he pointed to Ruby.

"Release her." He told them. They quickly ran to Ruby only unstrapping one of her arms before quickly retreating back to their spots in the corner.

Ruby didn't really mind, using her free arm to unstrap the other, and using her two free arms to unstrap her legs. All the while, the others cautiously watched her, ready to draw their weapons at a moment's notice.

"You're all a bit on edge." Ruby said, confused. "Why?"

"The last three times I've seen you, you've tried to kill me." Yang told her.

Taiyang glared at Yang, and Ozpin spoke next.

"I think what your sister was trying to say," he said. "Is that we are just trying to make sure that your mind is entirely your own."

Ruby nodded.

"I can assure you that it is." She said, pausing for a moment before quietly adding, "I think."

"How would we be sure?" Taiyang asked.

"We can't be." Ozpin said.

Yang turned to the headmaster.

"Ironwood used some sort of code to make her like that." She said. "Maybe we could somehow get that out of her mind!"

Ozpin shook his head.

"Unfortunately, it's not that simple, Miss Xiao Long. The changes James has made to her mind are permanent." He said.

"How do we stop her if James manages to get her back under his control?" Taiyang asked.

"Maybe you could stop talking about me like I'm not here." Ruby angrily said.

"What do you suggest, Miss Rose?" Ozpin politely asked.

"Create something just as permanent as a countermeasure." She told them.

Taiyang looked as Ozpin, who was seemingly deep in thought.

"Miss Rose?" Ozpin suddenly asked. "What is James' code?"

Ruby paused before shaking her head.

"Not here." She told him. "Not ever again."

"Would seeing the words trigger anything?" The headmaster asked.

"I don't— I don't think so." She told him.

"Would you mind writing them down?" He asked.

Ruby looked rather scared at this point, looking as if she was about to cry.

"How do I know I can trust you?" She asked, her voice not cracking despite the look on her face.

Ozpin paused.

"You can't be sure." He said. "You're just going to have to trust me."

Ruby sighed. "I need something to write with."

Ozpin quickly pulled a pen and a small, folded piece of notebook paper from his jacket pocket. He unfolded the paper, looking at both sides to see what was on it, then handed it to Ruby. It was seemingly blank on both sides. Ruby began to quickly write down the trigger words onto the piece of paper before handing it back to Ozpin.

"I haven't written anything in four years, so I'm sorry if it's not legible."

"I can read it just fine, Thank you, Miss Rose." Ozpin politely said, scanning the paper.

"I will make an arrangement to perform a similar procedure as to what James may have done to install such words into her mind. This time, however," he said. "I will make it so that there is a phrase that will deactivate her."

"Why did you need the code in that case?" Taiyang asked.

"I would like to make sure that the override works before we let her go anywhere." Ozpin told him.

Ozpin and Taiyang both left the room, leaving just the two sister alone.

After several minutes of silence, Yang asked, "What's it like?"

"Huh?" Ruby asked, her eyes shooting Yang's direction.

"What does it feel like when Ironwood uses that code on you?" Yang clarified.

Ruby shuddered, "It hurts. A lot. I usually get a massive headache and suddenly… I'm moving, I'm walking, I'm talking. But it's not… me. I'm just watching myself do all this, without any control over my actions. Not until it's all over, anyway."

Yang sat on the edge of Ruby's bed, concern now plastered onto her face.

"I thought yesterday was the first time he used it on you." She said.

Ruby shook her head, "No." she said. "He didn't use it very often. But when he did, I wanted it to stop. I wanted out." she looked down at the bed sheets, tears rolling down her face.

"Promise me," Ruby said. "Promise me that you won't let them use it on me again."

Yang rested her hand atop Ruby's.

"I won't let them. But I don't know if I can stop them every time." She said.

Ruby nodded.

"I'm offended you thought you had to ask." Yang jokingly said, causing Ruby to giggle.

Yang suddenly slide down the bed, pulling her younger sister into a hug.

"God," she said. "I've missed you so much."

Ruby hugged her back, and began sobbing. This caused Yang to hug her tighter.

"I'm so sorry, Yang." The younger girl sobbed.

"It's okay." Yang whispered into her ear, rocking her back and forth. "You weren't you."

"I'm not apologizing for today." Ruby sobbed. "I'm apologizing for Beacon."

"You weren't you." Yang repeated.

"No." Ruby said. "I was in control then. I was just so… angry."

"I know what that's like." Yang said, her voice not changing its soft tone. "I forgive you. For everything."


	15. Who We Are

Yang happily walked out of Ruby's hospital room, slowly closing the door to make sure she didn't make too much noise.

"How'd it go?" Blake asked from behind her, causing the blonde to quickly turn around.

"Pretty good." Yang told her. The two began to walk down the hallway together, side by side.

Blake had been relatively unharmed from their earlier encounter with Ruby. However, Yang could not say the same. While, after cleaning most of the blood off her face, it didn't look so bad, there were still many cuts and bruises all over. She and Ruby had both taken the hardest hits, both having bandages all over their faces.

"Ozpin's working on a 'counter code'." Yang continued. "We're trying to make sure Ironwood can't take her away again."

Blake nodded. "That's good." She said. "How is she?"

"She's not hurt too bad," Yang said. "But she feels really bad about what happened."

"I feel even worse," Blake said. "I could have killed her."

Yang chuckled.

"Many have tried, and many have failed." She said. "What makes you think just one bullet to the lower abdomen would kill her?"

"She went into shock, Yang." Blake told her.

"Yeah? So? She was fine." Yang said.

"But she could've—"

"But she didn't."

As Yang ended the conversation, the two entered the waiting room, where Jaune had fallen asleep, his head bowed and feet on a nearby coffee table. She rolled her eyes, and kicked away the coffee table, sliding it out from under his feet. His feet fell and he jumped awake.

"You." She said. "Get up." She pointed back down the hallway she and Blake had come down. "Go talk to her."

Jaune tiredly stood. "How did it go."

"Good." Yang said.

Jaune looked over at Blake, expecting some sort of response from the faunas. She shook her head.

"I didn't go in." She said. "I'm just going to wait until she asks about me."

Jaune nodded, getting the room number from Yang, and beginning to walk down the hallway to where Ruby was.

When he entered, she jumped, her eyes darting to the door. But she immediately relaxed when she saw that it was him. She smiled.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey."

"I knew you weren't dead." He claimed, grinning.

He carefully sat beside her, at the edge of the bed, bringing his face just inches from hers.

Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss. However, she just as suddenly pushed him away, looking a little disgusted.

"What?" He worriedly asked.

She acted like she spit something out, and giggled.

"The beard has got to go." She told him.

He smiled and began to stroke the aforementioned beard.

"I kinda like it." He said.

"I have to admit," she said, "It looks pretty good, but the hair gets in my mouth." She spit out more hair and he chuckled.

"I missed you so much." He told her, hugging her tight.

"I'm sorry…" she quietly said.

Jaune didn't say anything, refusing to release her from the right hug.

"I'm sorry." She said louder. "I'm sorry I tried to—"

"I don't wanna hear it." He told her in a rather soothing voice. "Whoever it was that tried to kill me. It wasn't you."

Ruby hugged him back, thankful for such forgiving friends and family.

[Shift]

Ruby groggily sat up, her head throbbing with pain as she forced herself into a sitting position.

"I think it'd be best if you laid back down, Miss Rose."

Ruby's eyes shot to the source of the voice. It was Ozpin.

"Any updates on the counter?" She asked him, laying back down. He nodded.

"In fact," he said. "We took the liberty of installing it into your mind while you slept."

"You did?" She asked. He nodded again.

"Now," he said. "If you don't mind, I'd like to make sure that it works. I'm probably going to have to restrain you."

She shook her head.

"I won't attack whoever says the code." She told him.

He nodded. "Alright. Let's get started."

He moved around to the foot of her bed, pulling a piece of paper from his jacket and unfolding it.

"Longing." He read. "Dead. Reformed. Daybreak. Fifteen. Benign. Titan. Beacon. One."

Ruby's body twitched, and she locked eyes with Ozpin.

"Ready to comply." She said, her voice monotone.

"Perseus." Ozpin quickly said.

Ruby closed her eyes, moving her face away from the bright lights.

"It works." She told him, rubbing her temple.

"It works." She repeated. "But now I have a migraine."

Ozpin smiled. "I'll leave you be, then."

The headmaster stepped out of her room, turning off the lights and quietly closing the door behind him. Next, he moved down the hallway to the waiting room where Ruby's friends and family awaited.

"It works." He proudly told them.

Everyone smiled, but Qrow, who had just arrived spoke up.

"That's great and all," he said. "But what now? Jimmy's still out there, and for all we know, he could be making an army of super soldiers."

"Which is exactly why, as soon as she recovers, she will be instated as a huntress," Ozpin said. "And she and her team will go after James."

"Excuse me," Blake said, "Wouldn't that mean war with Atlas?"

Ozpin nodded, "As far as Vale, and the remaining kingdoms are concerned, James has breached the Vytal Treaty when he not only attacked citizens of Vale and Menagerie, but on Mystral and Vale soil."

"And Vacuo?" Taiyang asked.

"Vacuo is neutral in this conflict." Ozpin told them. "However, we have found a just as powerful replacement. Menagerie is willing to take Vale's side in this war."

"They don't have the resources." Blake suddenly said.

"The White Fang is representing Menagerie in this conflict." Ozpin told her.

"You're kidding, right?" Yang asked.

Ozpin shook his head, "No." he said. "It's the only form of military Menagerie has. And I do believe including Menagerie is step one to solving the race issue in Vytal."

"If you've got troops," Taiyang said. "Why do you need Ruby?"

Ozpin grinned, "Every army needs a great leader." He said. "A role that I believe Miss Rose fills very well."

 **A/N: Sorry to go all Star Wars Prequels on you there, with the politics and all that, but that stuff does need to be explained. Atlas Vs The World is what is coming. I give this story four or five more chapters. But I don't really plan that far in advance, I just come up with stuff on the spot with a few pre planned stuff sprinkled in here and there.**


	16. Gold

It didn't take very long for Ruby to recover from the gunshot wound, and it took even less time for her to recover from the procedure. She was standing within twelve hours of the procedure, not that the nurses were happy with her, of course. Most people took weeks to recover from such events, aura or not. The cuts on her face disappeared much quicker than the rest of her injuries.

And, despite Ruby's quickening recovery, the others had decided to delay telling her of her new position as not only a huntress, but a general. This was mainly because Ruby had changed quite a bit because of her time with Ironwood, and they were unsure of how she would react.

But now that she was about to be discharged from the hospital, they decided that they were to tell her soon. Specifically, Ozpin was going to tell her, with no assistance from any of her friends or family.

He admittedly felt nervous as he stepped through the threshold of Ruby's room, her watching him as he slowly took a seat in one of the many chairs. Neither of them said anything for a very long time, just staring at one another. Ozpin was trying to correctly word what he was going to tell her, and she was just waiting for him to do so.

"I have very good news," he finally said.

She just raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to continue.

"I have no doubt that you have noticed Vale's lack of a military, relying solely on hunters." He said.

She nodded, and he continued.

"I plan on changing that," he said. "This does mean, however, that there is an opening for a commanding position in the military."

"What are you saying?" She asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I have decided to reward you the role of huntress," he said. "I believe that you have shown that you are more capable than your teammates, who, in your absence already graduated Beacon."

"Thank you," she said, barely smiling. "But, what does this have to do with your original statement?"

Ozpin grinned, "Miss Rose, you are a natural born leader," he told her, "And I have found that I am getting much slower in my old age. So, I will offer this to you, and you alone; I would like for you to take my position, not only leading the newly assembled military, but as headmaster of Beacon."

Ruby's jaw nearly hit the floor.

"You're kidding, right?" She asked.

He shook his head, "I believe you to be the only realistic choice as my replacement." He said.

"You want the brainwashed Atlas soldier to be in charge of the entirety of Vale?" She asked.

He nodded. "Atlas will fall, and that land will be given to the faunas, who will be very grateful for such."

She nodded, "Alright," she said. "I'll do it."

"I do hope you know," he said, grinning. "That not only are you the youngest student to every be admitted into Beacon, but you are also the youngest huntress ever. As well as the youngest headmistress any school has ever had. And you're also the youngest General ever. Of all time."

The former headmaster had clearly added that last sentence as a joke, knowing that it was probably grammatically incorrect. The two smiled. And Ozpin added, "You're also the first headmistress."

"There's a first time for everything." She said.

[Shift]

When Ruby stepped out into the waiting room, where the others were waiting, jaws dropped. She was wearing something very similar to what she wore before everything that happened. Except it wasn't as dark as before and showed slightly more skin than before.

She wore a skirt reminiscent of what she wore before, as well as a very similar corset that covered her chest as well, only leaving her collarbone and the smallest bit of cleavage bare. There was a white blouse encompassing that small space, seemingly used as sleeves. There were small, metallic strips clamping one of Ruby's sleeves to her equally metallic arm, as well as a pauldron strapped to her shoulder, much like her father's, and a black fingerless glove that looked like the ones Yang wore. The other shoulder, however, had only two small leather straps to hold up the dress part of her outfit. Underneath the skirt, she wore something that resembled baggy leggings, as well as a pair of black boots with dozens of buckles on them. On her back was a red, torn and tattered cloak, given back to her by Yang a few days prior.

And she looked bad ass.

"How do I look?" She innocently asked.

Taiyang smiled and reached into his bag, retrieving something from inside, he turned to Ruby, hiding the item behind his back.

"I think it's missing something." He told her. He pulled the item out from behind his back and handed it to her. It was a white cloak, just like Ruby's. Her eyes widened as he took her red cloak off of her, gently pinning the white to her shoulders.

"Are you sure?" She asked him.

He nodded, "What was I going to do with it?" He asked. "It belongs to you."

Ruby smiled, "Thank you." She told him, tightly hugging the man. After a few seconds, she pulled away, turning to the others.

"Jaune, Blake, Yang." She said. "Come on."

The three immediately stood.

"Where are we going?" Blake asked.

"First," Ruby said. "Beacon Tower. Then, Atlas."

All eyes were on the hunters as they marched through Beacon's campus, all wondering who the four newcomers were.

Ruby suddenly stopped, standing in the center of campus, and scanning the students who surrounded her.

"Is there a problem, students?" She asked.

They all stared at her blankly for a few moments before someone answered.

"We were just wondering who the four of you were." Someone said barely loud enough for Ruby to hear.

Ruby nodded, "I understand." She said. "Ozpin has stepped down from his position as headmaster and awarded it to myself. Now, please: Continue to your next class."

Ruby began walking once again, her new cloak bouncing with each step.


	17. It's Time

**A/N: So, I'm conflicted. Should I just go ahead and make this a trilogy? I feel like we've come far since the actual Political Protocol was in effect. Not to mention that everything is going good now. I feel like, since I'm a very theatrical writer, I should put up this final chapter and start working on the next story. That story being the war on Atlas. However, I am worried that I might not be able to make it a full length story like the other two. (sixteen or seventeen chapters) So, tell me what you guys think I should do, and if you do want me to do a third and final story, (maybe not final) I promise I won't wait six months like I did for this one. I'm very invested in this story and the characters at this point in time, and to be honest, I kinda wanna see how many stories I can do in the same universe before people stop reading. Maybe a prequel? Eh, maybe not. Though, I do think that this trilogy would be the end of Ruby's story, (Doesn't matter if she lives or dies, it's the end. If I kill her, she's gone. If I don't, she's grounded by her position as headmistress at Beacon) but that doesn't mean RWBY's story is over. And neither is JNPR's. So, Perseus Trilogy, or nah? And what** **should I do after that?**

Ruby stared blankly at the elevator door, feeling the ground pushing her upwards as they climbed Beacon Tower.

"So," Yang said, breaking the long silence between the four. "Headmistress, huh?"

Ruby nodded.

"Yup." She said.

Yang herself nodded, "Now what?" She asked.

Ruby slightly turned her head so that she could see Yang in her peripheral.

"I can't just up and leave right after I received this position." Ruby told her. "There's a lot I have to deal with before we leave. Like press and students, and people finding out that Weiss Schnee didn't actually drive me to kill myself."

"Yeah…" Yang quietly said. "The lawyer might have used that to get Weiss life."

Ruby sighed, "She's not getting out, is she?" She asked.

Yang shook her head, "Of course not." She said. "Weiss was charged mainly with attempted murder, conspiracy and several counts of lying to an officer of the law."

"Without murder," Blake interjected, "That's about twenty five years. Ten for attempted murder, fourteen for conspiracy, and another for lying."

"That's a legitimate charge?" Ruby asked, turning her head to where she could see Blake.

Blake nodded. "The official term is obstruction of justice." She said.

Ruby nodded, "That makes sense."

The elevator suddenly dinged and the four stepped off, into Ruby's new office. It was exactly how Ruby remembered it, not much had changed in three years, even after all that had happened inside.

Ruby sauntered over to her new desk, while her friends looked around, and sat down in the chair.

"I could get used to this." She muttered.

She quietly scanned the desk, looking at the very few things on it. There was a keyboard, and a mouse set in front of three monitors. Beside the far right monitor was a microphone, obviously made to communicate with the entire school if need be. Just beside that, was a wireless office phone.

Ruby checked the time on the computer; a little past noon, classes would still be in session.

Regardless of this, Ruby tapped the loudspeaker button on the microphone and there was a loud click that echoed throughout the school. She quickly decided that she would start the message just like she had heard many do it before.

"Pardon the interruption, teachers." She said. Her voice echoed through campus. "But I felt it necessary to inform the school of a very sudden change being made."

She looked up from the microphone and saw her friends staring at her, watching her as she spoke with a slight look of amusement.

"Headmaster Ozpin has recently resigned, leaving myself in charge of his school. Teachers, if there are any further questions, feel free to contact me."

Ruby released her finger from the button and leaned back in her chair. Almost immediately, the red light on her desk phone lit up. Ruby picked up the receiver and brought it to her ear.

"Headmistress speaking," she politely said, "How may I help you?"

Oobleck's voice came through the earpiece, speaking quickly, "Why wasn't the staff informed sooner about Ozpin's resignation?" He asked.

"It was a very sudden decision," she told him. "He only decided to do so half an hour ago. Though, I am sure you will respect his choice for his successor."

"Alright," he said. "I will have to look into this. Can I get a name, ma'am?"

"Yes, the woman assuming Ozpin's role as headmaster is one Ruby Rose, daughter of Summer Rose."

"That is impossible." Oobleck told her. "Miss Rose died many years ago."

"It was a coverup." Ruby told him.

"I suppose that makes sense." He quietly said.

"Yes, now if you would please refrain from sharing such information with the students, that would be great. Thank you."

"Alright." He said.

There was a loud click from his end, followed by a long and loud beep, meaning that he had hung up. Ruby set the phone down, only for it to start flashing red again. She sighed. This was going to be a long day.

[Shift]

Ozpin stood upon a rather large stage in Beacon's ballroom, hordes of press watching him as he leaned over the podium, speaking into the many microphones.

"With more than half of the world powers declaring war on Atlas," he said. "I have decided that now is a good time to appoint not only a General for the new army, but also a good time for myself to resign and allow Beacon to be put under new management."

The crowd exploded in a volley of questions, all asking who his successor would be.

"That is why I am glad to announce that not only is Ruby Rose alive, but she will also be Beacon's first ever headmistress, and Vale's first general."

With that cue, Ruby stepped onto the stage, standing beside Ozpin in the same outfit she had worn when she briefly visited her office earlier.

Cameras flashed, capturing her joyous smile and nearly blinding her in the process. She blinked rather quickly at first, trying to grow accustomed to the flashing lights. It didn't take very long.

Now, she turned to Ozpin, shaking his hand. He leaned into her ear, whispering, "They expect you to say something."

He quickly swapped places with her, leaving her all alone on the stage.

"I really don't know what to say," she said. "Other than 'thank you for this position, Ozpin'."

She quickly stepped away from the podium, retreating off stage. She was never one for public speaking, and that definitely didn't change now.

[Shift]

Weiss was fuming. Not only was the miserable child she had thought dead alive, but she was also due to receive a position of high importance; something Weiss should have gotten long ago. If anyone deserved to be Beacon's first headmistress, it was Weiss. Not Ruby. Ruby was incompetent, barely able to lead a team of four, let alone an entire school, or an entire army. It made her so angry.

The former heiress suddenly took off her shoe and flung it at the barred TV. The guards didn't like that, and came rushing in, shouting for her to get on the ground and whatnot.

 **A/N: Assuming you guys want me to morph this into a trilogy, this will be the last chapter of this story. But the storyline is not over. However, if you guys want me to keep posting the remainder of this storyline on this** **story, it will not be** **the final chapter, of course.**


	18. The General's Fall

**A/N: Chapter one of The General's Fall is up!**


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